Emergency Services praised by senior fire officer

The driver of a van, which was involved in a collision with a lorry at Magherafelt Road, just outside Draperstown, was left hanging precariously over the edge of a bridge in his vehicle after the collision, which saw three people taken to hospital.

This afternoon it was revealed that one person was “critical” while the other two were “stable”.

It took crews from Londonderry, including the specialist VEMA crew, an hour to reach the scene of the accident at Altagoan Bridge, a mile from Draperstown, where they assisted their colleagues from other stations including Belfast to secure the van. Due to the impact the van had been forced up over the stone wall of the bridge, leaving the rear two thirds of the van over the edge of the bridge, hanging six metres above water.

The driver of the van was trapped inside and had to be cut free in a delicate operation which lasted several hours.

The Fire and Rescue Service said the fire crews used specialist rescue equipment and resorted to using nearby trees to secure the van using straps.

The most senior officer at the scene, group commander Maurice Rafferty said the man trapped in the van had been at some risk: “We were greeted by quite a complex rescue scene when a van was seen hanging over the bridge side above the river in the area. One occupant was in the van and two were in the lorry.

“We had to call in some specialist assistance from Belfast and from the Crescent Link and Northland Road stations in Derry due to the risk of the vehicle both going into the river and that water rescue aspect that could have happened. It was quite a remote area for not only ourselves but for the ambulance service and the police.”

Praising the emergency crews, Mr Rafferty said: “The man in the van was at a significant risk and I would like to recognise the actions of the attending crews.

“It took the crews from Londonderry an hour to get tot he incident on what was a very dark, cold wet night. We brought them down as a precaution due to the precarious nature of accident, and because of the position of the van.

“It had collided with large goods vehicle and the impact left the van teetering on edge of the bridge. The first responders from Magheragh realised the danger of the possible collapse of the van into to the river bed, and it was they who requested the back-up.

“For that reason Crescent Link water rescue team and specialists on the high rise (VEMA) ladder were called out. As incident commander I oversaw contingency work, which saw the crews work to attach the van to nearby trees and other lorry. The back-up crews also conducted a scene search upsteam and downstream, searching for anyone with head trauma or other injuries who may have wandered off and searches were made into fields and around the river by the crews from Derry and Belfast, who were able to use their latest water rescue training and thermal imaging cameras to look for other possible casualties who may have been thrown clear of the accident.

“It was greatly reassuring to me to know that searches were taking place in the surrounding area and both specialist crews from Derry were on site to carry out a rescue from water if needed and other officers came down from Derry work with the ambulance personnel,” he said, adding: “I have to commend the work of paramedics and ambulance staff as well as our own crews, some of whom entered the vehicle to extricate the man, who was the most badly injured. Three casualties were taken to hospital in what was a very protracted operation lasting over four hours. It was not the usual type of incident, as our work was hampered by the position of the van and the occupant’s position and condition. He was quite badly injured.”

“I feel it is important to stress to road users that now that evenings are dark and wet this gives rise to restricted visibility I would urge people to be conscious of road conditions and drive appropriately and leave extra time for journeys,” Group Commander Rafferty said.

The road reopened earlier today, Thursday.